Franchise Closure Rates by Brand (2026): Item 20 Data

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Key facts

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VetMyFranchise · Original Research

Which franchises close the most units — from the franchisors' own FDD Item 20 disclosures. Closure and turnover rates across 1,935 franchise systems, with leaderboards covering the 1,194 systems of 25+ units, plus openings, net growth, and industry aggregates.

Last updated 2026-07-18 · 2,175 brands analyzed

Key findings

How these rates are computed — read before quoting

Formula. For each brand, the single-year closure rate is units_closed ÷ (units_total + units_closed) — closures in the last fiscal year divided by the units that were at risk of closing during it (year-end count plus the units that closed). Leaderboards include only systems with at least 25 units at risk, so one closure in a five-unit system doesn't outrank sixty in a four-hundred-unit system.

What counts as a closure. Unit counts come from each brand's FDD Item 20 tables. "Closed" includes terminations, non-renewals, and outlets that otherwise ceased operations, exactly as the franchisor disclosed them; transfers to new owners are counted separately by franchisors and are not included here. Rows reporting more than 100 closures and more than five times their year-end unit count are excluded as suspected extraction artifacts pending manual review.

Vintage. Figures reflect each brand's most recent FDD on file with VetMyFranchise (2025–2026 filings), so "last fiscal year" differs by brand. A high rate in one filing year can reflect a one-time network pruning rather than sustained decline — always check the brand's three-year Item 20 history.

Highest closure rates

The 25 highest single-year closure rates among systems with at least 25 units at risk. A caveat before you screenshot this: these are the franchisors' own Item 20 numbers for one fiscal year. A brand can appear here because it is genuinely shrinking — or because it culled underperforming locations in a single restructuring year. Click through to each brand's full analysis before treating a row as a verdict.

# Franchise Industry Total units Closed LFY Opened LFY Closure rate
1 Nativewahl Food & Beverage 21 85 1 80.2%
2 Wahlburgers Food & Beverage 21 85 1 80.2%
3 Bc Licensing Food & Beverage 22 21 12 48.8%
4 World Options Business Services 17 14 11 45.2%
5 The Vital Stretch Fitness & Wellness 14 11 10 44.0%
6 Red Mango Fc Food & Beverage 26 19 0 42.2%
7 Qc Franchise Group Senior Care 104 68 6 39.5%
8 Hpb Lighting Home Services 78 49 21 38.6%
9 Picklr Fitness & Wellness 56 35 22 38.5%
10 Boxdrop Retail 125 74 15 37.2%
11 Ta Hospitality & Travel 33 19 19 36.5%
12 Bin Blasters Cleaning & Maintenance 16 9 7 36.0%
13 Hpb Foam Home Services 86 48 18 35.8%
14 Laundrolab Cleaning & Maintenance 22 12 10 35.3%
15 Majestic Residences Senior Care 32 16 16 33.3%
16 Hpb Painting Home Services 46 21 33 31.3%
17 Pizzeria Uno Food & Beverage 23 10 0 30.3%
18 Inxpress Business Services 53 23 11 30.3%
19 Softroc USA Home Services 21 9 0 30.0%
20 Woops! Food & Beverage 21 9 6 30.0%
21 Zips Cleaning & Maintenance 52 22 4 29.7%
22 9round Fitness & Wellness 141 59 3 29.5%
23 Hello Garage Home Services 73 30 0 29.1%
24 Row House Fitness & Wellness 49 20 2 29.0%
25 The Barbers, Hairstyling for Men & Women Health & Beauty 329 134 0 28.9%

Largest net-growth brands

The other side of the ledger: the 25 systems (25+ units) that added the most franchised units net of closures in their last fiscal year. Fast net growth is a demand signal — but pair it with the closure column, since aggressive openers can also be aggressive closers a few years later.

# Franchise Industry Total units Opened LFY Closed LFY Net growth
1 Focus Cleaning & Maintenance 4,872 4,035 106 +3,929
2 Forward Cleaning & Maintenance 4,872 4,035 106 +3,929
3 Royal Phoenix Cleaning & Maintenance 3,786 1,002 0 +1,002
4 Wecleanit Cleaning & Maintenance 3,786 1,002 1 +1,001
5 Sarayan Building Solutions Cleaning & Maintenance 3,786 1,002 13 +989
6 Cruiseone Hospitality & Travel 2,515 505 161 +344
7 Cinnabon Food & Beverage 1,310 348 40 +308
8 N2 Franchising, Inc. (n2 Publishing, Stroll or Greet) Retail 540 353 45 +308
9 Brew Culture Food & Beverage 578 283 2 +281
10 Wingstop Food & Beverage 2,154 281 0 +281
11 R.e.johnsen Cleaning & Maintenance 10,314 284 6 +278
12 A Sub Above Food & Beverage 3,201 246 0 +246
13 Dunkin Donuts Food & Beverage 8,744 314 81 +233
14 7-Eleven Retail 7,229 283 78 +205
15 Domino's Pizza Food & Beverage 7,236 214 9 +205
16 Signal 88 Business Services 1,883 238 34 +204
17 Hissho International Food & Beverage 2,614 435 232 +203
18 Ifixandrepair Technology 427 201 0 +201
19 Hissho International Food & Beverage 2,449 461 261 +200
20 Hissho International, Llc (hissho Sushi) Food & Beverage 2,389 461 261 +200
21 Cruiseone Hospitality & Travel 2,515 339 153 +186
22 The Ups Store Business Services 5,487 187 5 +182
23 Chick-Fil-a Food & Beverage 2,795 278 102 +176
24 McDonald's USA Food & Beverage 13,062 221 46 +175
25 Fas-Tes Senior Care 248 227 54 +173

Closure rates by industry

Aggregate roll-up across every industry with at least eight Item 20–reporting brands: total units, closures, openings, net growth, and the aggregate closure rate (industry closures ÷ industry units at risk). Sorted by closure rate, highest first.

Industry Brands Total units Opened Closed Net growth Closure rate
Staffing & HR 16 2,104 141 174 -33 7.6%
Home Services 225 24,689 3,250 1,842 +1,408 6.9%
Financial Services 29 13,091 483 969 -486 6.9%
Pet Services 53 3,945 520 240 +280 5.7%
Senior Care 115 24,730 2,384 1,455 +929 5.6%
Real Estate 73 21,967 1,195 1,199 -4 5.2%
Hospitality & Travel 73 15,743 1,468 767 +701 4.6%
Retail 113 25,041 2,151 1,213 +938 4.6%
Health & Beauty 86 22,051 785 1,052 -267 4.6%
Fitness & Wellness 145 23,987 1,930 1,137 +793 4.5%
Automotive 59 11,110 710 475 +235 4.1%
Child Services & Education 139 12,530 1,272 520 +752 4.0%
Business Services 90 18,673 1,603 766 +837 3.9%
Food & Beverage 556 163,628 10,213 5,888 +4,325 3.5%
Cleaning & Maintenance 134 68,855 13,650 2,010 +11,640 2.8%
Other 18 1,865 171 48 +123 2.5%
Technology 11 2,539 517 59 +458 2.3%

Go deeper

Analyze any single brand: $49

A one-year closure rate is a signal, not a verdict. Our full 12-section FDD analysis covers a brand's complete Item 20 history, Item 19 earnings, litigation, fees, and a buyer verdict — $49 per report, or three for $99.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What franchise has the highest failure rate?

Among the 1,194 systems with at least 25 units analyzed by VetMyFranchise, Nativewahl shows the highest single-year closure rate at 80.2% (85 closures against 106 units at risk), as disclosed in its own FDD Item 20. Note that a closure rate is not strictly a "failure rate" — Item 20 closures include terminations, non-renewals, and units that ceased operations for any reason — and a single bad year can reflect a deliberate pruning of underperforming locations. Check the brand's multi-year Item 20 tables before drawing conclusions.

What is a normal franchise closure rate?

The median single-year closure rate across 1,194 qualifying systems is 4.3%, and 13% of systems closed zero units in their last fiscal year. As a rule of thumb, a sustained closure rate above roughly 5% per year — or closures exceeding openings for consecutive years — signals stress worth investigating with existing franchisees before buying.

Are franchise closures the same as failures?

No. FDD Item 20 reports units that were terminated by the franchisor, not renewed at end of term, or ceased operations for other reasons. Some of those outlets were profitable but exited on owner retirement or non-renewal; conversely, transfers to new owners are counted separately and can hide distress (a struggling unit "sold" rather than closed does not appear as a closure). That is why this report shows closures, openings, and net growth side by side rather than a single "failure" number.

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